Scripture Reading: Josh. 1:1-9
Please refer to “The Hidden, Intrinsic Significance of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth” (pp. 6-7)
I
Joshua is a type of Christ in the following aspects:
A
The Greek equivalent of the Hebrew name Joshua is Jesus (Heb. 4:8; Acts 7:45), which means “Jehovah the Savior,” or “the salvation of Jehovah” (Matt. 1:21; Num. 13:16):
１
Christ as our Leader is our real Joshua as the Captain of our salvation (Heb. 2:10; 4:8) to lead us into glory and into the rest of the God-promised land with Christ as our perfect peace and full satisfaction (2:10; 4:11; Deut. 12:9; Matt. 11:28-30).
２
Joshua typifies Christ as grace replacing the law, signified by Moses (Josh. 1:2a; John 1:17); it was when Moses the lawgiver died that Joshua came in to bring the people into the good land (Josh. 1:1-4); he typifies the Lord Jesus as our Leader bringing us into the enjoyment of Himself as our rest, as the reality of the good land (Deut. 8:7-10; 12:9; Phil. 1:19; Eph. 3:8; Col. 1:12; 2:6-7; Heb. 4:8-9; Matt. 11:28-29).
B
In the war against Amalek (Exo. 17:8-16), Amalek typifies the flesh as the totality of the fallen old man; Joshua typifies the present and practical Christ as the indwelling, fighting Spirit, the One who fights against the flesh and puts it to death (Rom. 8:9-13; Gal. 5:16-17, 24):
１
The purpose of the flesh is to keep us from entering into the full enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as our good land.
２
God’s economy delivers us from the flesh to the Spirit so that we may participate in the blessing of the riches of the Triune God—Rom. 7:17—8:2; Gal. 3:14; Eph. 1:3-14.
C
At the age of forty Joshua joined Caleb, as two of the twelve spies, as ones who had hearts full of faith by taking the word of God as their faith to care for God’s interests for His people to possess the good land; only two overcomers among God’s redeemed in the wilderness, Joshua and Caleb, received the prize of the good land—Num. 13:30; 14:6-9, 27-30; Rom. 10:17; Gal. 3:3, 5; Heb. 11:5-6; Phil. 3:13-14; cf. Acts 6:5:
１
According to the record in Numbers 13 and 14, the people of Israel had an evil heart of unbelief; Joshua and Caleb exhorted and warned the people by saying, “Do not rebel against Jehovah” (v. 9); these words indicate that not to believe in the Lord is to rebel against Him—Num. 13:31-33; 14:1-3, 6-11; Deut. 1:26, 32.
２
If we are going to fully possess Christ as the good land, we must ask the Lord to save us from having an evil heart of unbelief; to have such a hardened heart is to fall away, to turn away, from the living God—vv. 25-26, 28, 35-39; 9:23; Acts 6:5a; Heb. 3:7-13.
３
Our Christian walk is by faith, not by sight (2 Cor. 5:7); thus, we must continually look away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith (Heb. 12:1-2); our faith is not of ourselves but of Him who imparts Himself as the believing element into us that He may believe for us (Gal. 2:20; 2 Pet. 1:1).
４
We need to realize that for a Christian, unbelief is the greatest sin; if we grasp hold of God’s Word and believe His Word, all will be well; when we live by our feelings and do not exercise our spirit of faith and turn our heart to the Lord in order to believe in the divine facts in God’s Word, which is His covenant, His will, to us, we are rebelling against the Word of God, insulting God, and making Him a liar—Deut. 1:25-26; Heb. 3:12, 16-19; 4:2, 6; 11:1; Rom. 3:4.
５
We should not be threatened or frightened by the clouds of our convictions, feelings, and environments; we must live under the new covenant and not believe in any failure, weakness, darkness, or negative thing; we are the covenanted people, and we have a verse of promise to meet every situation—Gen. 9:8-17; Rev. 4:2-3; Lam. 3:22-23; Rom. 8:1; 2 Cor. 12:9; 2 Tim. 1:10; 2:1; Jude 24; 1 John 1:9; 1 Cor. 1:9.
６
Our spirit is the “bank account” of the resurrected, pneumatic Christ as the reality of all the bequests of the new covenant; by the law of the Spirit of life, all these bequests are dispensed into us and made real to us; because the church people are a people under the covenant, we can actually be called the church of the covenant—Isa. 42:6; 49:8; Rom. 8:2, 10, 6, 11, 16; Heb. 8:10; John 16:13.
Ⅱ
“No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, I will be with you; I will not fail you nor forsake you. Be strong and take courage, for you will cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them. Only be strong and very courageous, being certain to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you. Do not turn away from it to the right or to the left, that you may have success wherever you go”—Josh. 1:5-7:
A
For Jehovah to tell Joshua that, as He was with Moses, He would be with Joshua was a great matter; at one point the Lord told Moses, “My presence shall go with you, and I will give you rest” (Exo. 33:14); because Moses was a person very near to God’s heart and according to God’s heart, he had God’s presence to a full extent.
B
In the New Testament the presence of Jesus is Emmanuel, meaning “God with us” (Matt. 1:23; 18:20; 28:20); Christ as the Spirit of reality, the life-giving Spirit, is Emmanuel, the presence of the Divine Trinity in our spirit (2 Tim. 4:22).
C
We should continually exercise our spirit of faith to be strong and very courageous to enjoy the all-inclusive Christ, signified by the good land, as the pledge of our inheritance today, which is a sample of our full and eternal inheritance of the wonderful Christ in the next age and for eternity—2 Cor. 4:13; Eph. 1:14, 18; 2 Cor. 1:22; 5:5-6a.
D
We should take the Lord as our strength and our courage to magnify Christ under any circumstances, which is to experience Him with the topmost enjoyment (Phil. 1:20; 4:11-13); we can always declare, “Jehovah is my light and my salvation; / Whom shall I fear? / Jehovah is the strength of my life; / Whom shall I dread?”—Psa. 27:1.
E
Death once reigned over us (Rom. 5:14), and we were under its slavery, continually fearing death; since the Lord destroyed the devil and nullified death (Heb. 2:14-15; 2 Tim. 1:10), we now have no more fear of death and are released from its slavery.
F
“Jehovah will not abandon His people, / Nor will He forsake His inheritance” (Psa. 94:14); “The Lord is my Helper, and I will not fear. What shall man do to me?” (Heb. 13:6); “If God is for us, who can be against us?” (Rom. 8:31).
G
We need to be those who fan into flame our God-given spirit, which is not a spirit of cowardice but of power and of love and of sobermindedness (2 Tim. 1:6-7); our feelings are altogether a lie; we should always believe and declare that we are strong, that we are full of love, and that we are very clear; then we can “be strong and take courage” (Josh. 1:6) to enter into and enjoy the all-inclusive Christ as the reality of the good land.
H
We should not turn away “to the right or to the left” (v. 7) from the holy Word concerning the heavenly vision of God’s eternal economy, so that we may have success wherever we go by walking worthily of the Lord “to please Him in all things” (Col. 1:10); thus, before our translation we can obtain the testimony that we have been “well pleasing to God” by continually believing that God is and we are not (Heb. 11:5-6; Gen. 5:21-24).
Ⅲ
“This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall muse upon it day and night so that you may be certain to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and take courage; do not be afraid or dismayed. For Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go”—Josh. 1:8-9:
A
Joshua was to be occupied with God’s word and let the word occupy him (cf. Col. 3:16); by being occupied and filled with the word, he would have prosperity and success in taking the God-promised land.
B
The key to Joshua’s carrying out all that is written in God’s Word and the key to his prosperity, success, strength, and courage in taking the God-promised land were for him to not let God’s word depart from his mouth by musing upon it day and night; the words your mouth show that musing was mainly practiced by speaking aloud:
１
The Hebrew word for muse is rich in meaning; it implies to worship, to converse with oneself, and to speak aloud; to muse on the word is to taste and enjoy it through careful considering—Psa. 119:15, 23, 48, 78, 97-100, 148, cf. vv. 9-11.
２
Prayer, speaking to oneself, and praising the Lord may also be included in musing on the word; to muse on the word of God is to enjoy His word as His breath (2 Tim. 3:16) and thus to be infused with God, to breathe God in, and to receive spiritual nourishment.
３
To muse upon the Word is to “chew the cud,” like a cow eating grass (Lev. 11:3); when we muse upon the word of God, we receive it with much consideration and reconsideration; just as a cow chews its cud, we may do this while we are pray-reading the word early in the morning so that we may receive nourishment by reconsidering what we receive from God’s word.
C
The psalmist said, “I will muse upon Your precepts / And regard Your ways. / I will take delight in Your statutes; / I will not forget Your word”—Psa. 119:15-16:
１
When the psalmist mused upon God’s word, it became his delight, his gladness and joy (Jer. 15:16), and he would not forget God’s word; thus, it became a constant and eternal nourishment to him (Psa. 119:105, 130).
２
By musing upon God’s word, we remember His word and are enlivened by it—“Remember the word to Your servant / In which You have made me hope. / This is my comfort in my affliction, / For Your word has enlivened me”—vv. 49-50.
D
Musing upon the word is even richer, broader, and more inclusive than pray-reading, for it includes prayer, worship, enjoyment, conversation, bowing down, and even lifting up our hand to receive God’s word (v. 48); to lift up our hand unto the word of God is to indicate that we receive it warmly and gladly and that we say Amen to it (Neh. 8:5-6).
E
When we touch the Lord’s word with our spirit in this way and remain in continual fellowship with Him, we should have a feeling of being bathed, warmed, refreshed, moistened, and supplied by the word in the Bible; the one thing, the best thing, we should do is to touch Him, worship Him, believe in Him, absorb Him, enjoy Him, pursue Him, and gain Him—Psa. 27:4; Phil. 3:8, 14.
F
When we truly take time to muse upon God’s word, we are being infused with God to glow with God and to shine forth God (2 Cor. 3:15-18); this is why we sing, “Pray to fellowship with Jesus, / Bathing in His countenance; / Saturated with His beauty, / Radiate His excellence” (Hymns, #784, stanza 6).
G
Because our Lord and our God has commanded us to enter into and enjoy Him as the reality of the all-inclusive good land, we should say Amen to His word to be strong, to take courage, and to not be afraid or dismayed, for Jehovah our God is with us wherever we go, as we disciple all the nations to make them the kingdom people until the end of this age, the time of His coming—Josh. 1:9; Matt. 28:20.
Morning Nourishment
Josh. 14:1-2 And these are what the children of Israel received as inheritances in the land of Canaan…by the lot of their inheritance…Col. 1:12 Giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you for a share of the allotted portion of the saints in the light.
2:6 As therefore you have received the Christ, Jesus the Lord, walk in Him.
These two main points—to take the land for Christ and to provide the bona fide ancestors for Christ—are the spirit of the history from Joshua to Ruth. Since the God-promised land is a type of Christ, to gain the land for Christ means to gain Christ for Christ.
It was a fact that God had given the land to Israel, but this fact was not yet practical. Rather, it was a promise that still needed to be fulfilled….Only after Israel had gained the good land and had taken possession of it did the land actually become theirs as a practical fact.
The principle is the same with the preaching of the gospel today. God’s salvation has been promised, prepared, and completed in Christ and with Christ….God wants to give salvation to sinners, but they need to respond to Him by receiving His gift of salvation…. Actually, to receive God’s salvation is to do God a favor. If you know the heart of God, you will realize that whenever a sinner repents and receives Christ, that sinner is doing God a favor. (Life-study of Joshua, pp. 31-32)
Today’s Reading
At the beginning of the book of Joshua, Israel was ready to go forward, to take the good land, to possess it, and to enjoy it. For Israel to do this meant that they were doing something for Christ, who is typified by the good land….Today, Christ as the good land is ready to be taken and possessed by His believers. However, where are those who are ready to take Him, possess Him, and enjoy Him as the all-inclusive good land?Our need today is to gain more of Christ, to possess more of Christ, and to experience more of Christ….This is not only for our enjoyment but also for Christ to be what He should be…. We gain Christ for Christ so that He may have His corporate expression. This is to make the good land the land of Immanuel (Isa. 8:8)….Paul was one who struggled to pursue Christ in order to gain Christ (Phil. 3:8,12)…. Because so many Christians do not pursue Christ in order to gain Him, God needs the overcomers.
As early as the first century, the Lord came in to call for overcomers (Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 26-28; 3:5, 12, 20-21; 21:7), and today He is still sounding out the call for the overcomers. Nevertheless, even among devoted Christians it is hard to find some overcomers, some who are pursuing Christ in order to gain Him.
At the time of Joshua, there were two or three million Israelites, but there were not many Joshuas and Calebs. There were not many endeavoring ones, genuine pursuers of God. Without such ones both the good land and the Giver of the land would have been idle. Both the land and the Giver of the land needed certain ones to take the land, possess the land, and enjoy the land. Those who possessed the land did a favor to the One who gave them the land.
We today need to take and possess the land for Christ. We need to gain Christ for Christ. If we do this, we will do Christ a favor. However, if we go on living a routine Christian life and church life, we will not be able to gain the land for Christ. For this, God needs some overcomers. There are millions of real Christians on earth today, but where are the overcomers? God is calling for overcomers, but who will answer His call? Who will respond to God’s call by pursuing Christ in order to gain Christ? I hope that many among us will do Christ a favor by responding to God’s call for overcomers. (Life-study of Joshua, pp. 32-35)
Further Reading: Life-study of Joshua, msg. 6
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 2:10 For it was fitting for Him, for whom are all things and through whom are all things, in leading many sons into glory, to make the Author of their salvation perfect through sufferings.4:8 For if Joshua had brought them into rest, He would not have spoken concerning another day after these things.
11 Let us therefore be diligent to enter into that rest…
The first type of Christ in the book of Joshua is Joshua himself…. Joshua typifies Christ and grace (Christ) replacing the law (Moses—Josh. 1:2a; John 1:17). It was when Moses the lawgiver died that Joshua came in (Deut. 34:8-9) to bring the people into the good land (Josh. 1:6), typifying the Lord Jesus bringing the people of God into rest, into the enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ. (Life-study of Joshua, p. 4)
Joshua, which means “Jehovah the Savior” or the “salvation of Jehovah” (Num. 13:16), is a Hebrew name, of which the equivalent in Greek is Jesus. Hence, Joshua was a type of the Lord Jesus, who brought the people of God into rest. (Heb. 4:8, footnote 1)
Today’s Reading
The salvation mentioned in Hebrews 2:10 and referred to in verse 3 and 1:14 saves us from our fallen state into glory. Jesus, as the Pioneer, the Forerunner (6:20), took the lead to enter into glory, and we, His followers, are taking the same way to be brought into the same glory, which was ordained by God for us (1 Cor. 2:7; 1 Thes. 2:12). He cut the way, and we are now taking the way. Hence, He is not only the Savior who saved us from our fallen state but also the Author who, as the Pioneer, entered into glory that we may be brought into the same estate. (Heb. 2:10, footnote 4)Since the rest that is covered in Hebrews 3:7—4:13 is the all-inclusive Christ, to fall from it is to fall from Christ, to be brought to nought from Christ (Gal. 5:4). In Galatians the danger was that the Galatian believers would drift into the bondage of law from the freedom of grace (Gal. 5:1-4). Paul advised them to stand fast in the freedom of grace, that is, not to be brought to nought from Christ. Here, in Hebrews, the danger was that the Hebrew believers would not forsake their old religion, which was according to the law, and press on into the enjoyment of Christ as their rest. If they continued to stagger in their old religion, that is, in Judaism, they would come short of Christ, who was their rest. The writer of Hebrews earnestly encouraged them, as Christ’s partners, to press on with Christ and enter into the rest, that they, as His partakers, might enjoy Christ as their rest. (Heb. 4:11, footnote 1)
Amalek typifies the flesh, which is the totality of the fallen old man (Gal. 2:16…). The fighting between Amalek and Israel depicts the conflict between the flesh and the Spirit within the believers (Gal. 5:17; cf. 1 Pet. 2:11). (Exo. 17:8, footnote 1) Amalek was defeated by Israel through the supply of the manna (Exo. 16) and the living water (17:1-6) and by the lifting up of Moses’ hands and the fighting of Joshua. (Exo. 17:11, footnote 1)
Amalek was the first enemy encountered by the children of Israel on the way to the good land (Deut. 25:17-18; 1 Sam. 15:2). This indicates that our flesh is the first among all our enemies. The flesh, sin, the world, and Satan are all related, but the most prominent among them in fighting against the believers is the flesh (Gal. 5:17). When in our experience the flesh is put to death (Gal. 5:24; Rom. 8:13), the world cannot hold us, sin cannot operate in us, and Satan is powerless to work on us. Amalek’s purpose in attacking Israel was to frustrate them from entering the good land. Likewise, Satan’s aim in stirring up the flesh to fight against us is to keep us from entering into the full enjoyment of the all-inclusive Christ as our good land (see footnote 1 on Deut. 8:7). (Exo. 17:8, footnote 2)
Further Reading: Life-study of Joshua, msg. 1; Life-study of Matthew, msgs. 1, 6; Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 46-48
Morning Nourishment
Heb. 12:2 Looking away unto Jesus, the Author and Perfecter of our faith…Rom. 10:17 So faith comes out of hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ.
Heb. 4:2…The word heard did not profit them, not being mixed together with faith in those who heard.
Gal. 2:20 …I live in faith, the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me.
The overcoming saints in the Old Testament are only witnesses of faith, whereas Jesus is the Author of faith. He is the Originator, the Inaugurator, the source, and the cause of faith. In our natural man we have no believing ability….When we look away unto Jesus [Heb. 12:2], He as the life-giving Spirit (1 Cor. 15:45) transfuses us with Himself, with His believing element. Then, spontaneously, a kind of believing arises in our being, and we have the faith to believe in Him. This faith is not of ourselves but of Him who imparts Himself as the believing element into us that He may believe for us. Hence, He Himself is our faith. We live by Him as our faith; that is, we live by His faith (Gal. 2:20), not by our own. (Heb. 12:2, footnote 3)
As indicated by the evil report of the ten spies (Num. 13:31-33) and the murmuring of the people against Moses and Aaron (14:1-4), the children of Israel did not care for God but cared only for themselves…. Because of this, they did not believe in God, and they offended God to such an extent that they became abhorrent to Him. Their situation brought in God’s judgment and punishment. God alone is the source of faith. If we would have faith, we must learn to care for God’s interests and not for our benefit. (Num. 14:11, footnote 1)
Today’s Reading
To what is God faithful? He is faithful to what He says. He is faithful to His Word, and His Word is the testament, the covenant. The covenant is simply God’s Word.Our Christian life and church life are absolutely a covenant life…. In verse after verse of the New Testament, we find God’s promises. I want to give you one of them: …“No temptation has taken you except that which is common to man; and God is faithful, who will not allow that you be tempted beyond what you are able, but will, with the temptation, also make the way out, that you may be able to endure it” (1 Cor. 10:13). There is a verse for every circumstance that you face…as a living promise for you to rely upon and live by….We should not be threatened or frightened by the clouds of our convictions, feelings, and environments. We are under God’s covenant, fully under His blessing. There is no more condemnation, no more judgment, no more curse. Death has been abolished. In the church, we continually enjoy life…. Do not be frightened about losing your job or your health. Do not be threatened by any dark or negative thing. We are the covenanted people, and we have a verse of promise to meet every situation. (Life-study of Genesis, p. 437)
Only God’s Word is true! If the environment and experience match God’s Word, we thank and praise Him! If the environment and experience do not match God’s Word, it is God’s Word that stands. Anything that contradicts God’s Word is false…. God says that Christ is my holiness, my life, and my victory. Satan will say that you are still corrupt, weak, and unclean. But God’s Word is true. Satan’s words are lies. Only God’s Word is true! (CWWN, vol. 24, “The Overcoming Life,” p. 136)
The faith of the believers is actually not their own faith but Christ entering into them to be their faith….When we repented unto God, the pneumatic Christ as the sanctifying Spirit of God (1 Pet. 1:2a) moved within us to be our faith by which we believed on the Lord Jesus (Acts 16:31)…. As sinners, we did not have faith. Faith came into us by our hearing the word. This word is just Christ Himself. (CWWL, 1994-1997, vol. 1, “Crystallization-study of the Epistle to the Romans,” p. 273)
Further Reading: Life-study of Hebrews, msg. 25; CWWN, vol. 24, “The Overcoming Life,” chs. 7-8
Morning Nourishment
Josh. 1:5-7 No man will be able to stand before you all the days of your life….I will be with you; I will not fail you nor forsake you. Be strong and take courage, for you will cause this people to inherit the land which I swore to their fathers to give to them….Do not turn away from [the law] to the right or to the left, that you may have success wherever you go.God’s promise first was that no man would be able to stand before Joshua all the days of his life (Josh. 1:5a). Second, God’s promise was that He would be with Joshua and would not fail him or forsake him (v. 5b). In verse 9c God said to Joshua, “Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go.”
First, God encouraged Joshua to be strong and to be bold (vv. 6a, 7a, 9a). Joshua was to be bold not in himself but in the moving and operating God…. Next, God encouraged Joshua not to be afraid or dismayed (v. 9b)…. Furthermore, God told Joshua that he would have success wherever he went (vv. 7c, 8b).
The children of Israel agreed with Joshua in taking God’s commission. Their response [in verses 16 through 18] implied their willingness, their readiness, and their being in one accord not only with Joshua but also with Jehovah their God as expressed by their blessing of Joshua in the name of their God. They were one with the Triune God in the great wheel of His economy for the purpose of gaining the good land. (Life-study of Joshua, pp. 10, 12)
Today’s Reading
Second Timothy 1:6-7 indicates that we need to fan our spirit into flame. In these verses Paul says, “For which cause I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands. For God has not given us a spirit of cowardice, but of power and of love and of sobermindedness.”. . .Our God-given spirit is what we must fan into flame. We have to fan our spirit. At times you may suffer to such an extent that you may begin to doubt God and doubt your salvation. But regardless of how much you doubt, one thing is within you that you cannot deny—your spirit. You are not like a beast. You have a spirit. This spirit is a trouble to Satan. Regardless of how much work Satan has done and is still doing, there is one thing within us that he cannot touch—our spirit. We need to fan our spirit into flame.If you want to fan your spirit into flame, you need to open up your mouth, open up your heart, and open up your spirit. You need to open these three layers of your being. You have to use your mouth to say, “O Lord Jesus.” But then you have to go deeper by using your mouth with your heart to say, “O Lord Jesus.” Then you need to go even deeper by using your mouth with your heart and with your spirit to say, “O Lord Jesus.” This is to open up your spirit from deep within. Then the fire burns. If you are down, you should call “O Lord Jesus” again and again from deep within with the exercise of your spirit. Then you will be up.
Quite often we are cheated and deceived by the enemy. We say that we are weak and cloudy. But when we say that we are weak, we are weak. When we say that we are cloudy, we are cloudy. On the other hand, when we say that we are strong, we are strong. When we say that we are clear, we are clear. When we say what we are, that is what we are. Do not say that you are weak. If you say that you are weak, weakness is with you. But if you say that you are strong, strength is with you. We can say that we are strong because we have the capacity. We have the capital. God gave us not a spirit of cowardice but a spirit of power, of love, and of sobermindedness. We should declare this and claim this. Then we will have it. This is our portion. This is our legal, God-appointed lot, which has been allotted to us by God. (CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” pp. 182-185)
Further Reading: Life-study of Joshua, msg. 2; CWWL, 1993, vol. 2, “The Spirit with Our Spirit,” ch. 8
Morning Nourishment
Josh. 1:8-9 This book of the law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall muse upon it day and night so that you may be certain to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous and then you will have success…. Be strong and take courage; do not be afraid or dismayed. For Jehovah your God is with you wherever you go.God’s encouragement to Joshua was in the term of Joshua’s walking in the word of God….The book of the law was not to depart from his mouth, but he was to muse upon it day and night so that he would be certain to do according to all that was written in it (Josh. 1:8a). Joshua was to be occupied with God’s word and to let the word occupy him. By being occupied and filled with the word, he would have prosperity and success in taking the good land. (Life-study of Joshua, p. 11)
Rich in meaning, the Hebrew word for muse (often translated meditate in the KJV) implies to worship, to converse with oneself, and to speak aloud. To muse on the word is to taste and enjoy it through careful considering. Prayer, speaking to oneself, and praising the Lord may also be included in musing on the word. To muse on the word of God is to enjoy His word as His breath (2 Tim. 3:16) and thus to be infused with God, to breathe God in, and to receive spiritual nourishment. (Psa. 119:15, footnote 1)
Today’s Reading
In a number of verses [in Psalm 119] the psalmist says that he mused upon God’s word (vv. 15,23,48, 78,99,148)…. To muse upon the Word is to “chew the cud,” like a cow eating grass (Lev. 11:3)…. If we take in the Word too quickly, we shall not have very much enjoyment. But if we “chew the cud” as we take in the Word, our enjoyment will increase.When we muse upon the Word of God,…we shall spontaneously pray…. Furthermore, we may converse with ourselves or begin to praise the Lord. We may be so inspired by the Word that we want to shout our praises to the Lord. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 669-670)
Chewing the cud signifies receiving the word of God with much consideration and reconsideration….We may do this while we pray-read early in the morning. As we are pray-reading, we may consider and reconsider the word. This is to chew the cud to receive nourishment by reconsidering what we receive from God’s word. (Life-study of Leviticus, p. 315)
Usually musing upon the Word will be slower and finer than pray-reading the Word. For example, in our musing upon Exodus 20:2, we may say to ourselves, “Remember that Jehovah is your Lord. He has brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Now you are out. Amen! O Lord, I worship You for bringing me out of bondage!” In all our musing upon God’s Word, talking to the Lord or conversing with ourselves, we should be spontaneous and full of enjoyment. We may bow down to worship the Lord, ponder the Word, remember, or give ourselves a rebuke.
The seekers of God in the Old Testament mused upon His living word. Their way of handling the Word of God was different from that followed by many today who mainly exercise their mind to study the Word in letter. As the psalmists mused upon the Word of God, they spoke to God, prayed, worshipped Him, and even bowed down to Him. In the presence of God, they spoke to themselves of His mercy, salvation, and gracious supply. Musing upon the Word in this way is even richer, broader, and more inclusive than pray-reading, for it includes prayer, worship, enjoyment, conversation, bowing down, and even lifting up our hands to receive God’s word. It also includes rejoicing, praising, shouting, and even weeping before the Lord…. If we muse upon the Word of God, we shall delight ourselves in the Word. Sometimes we may weep before the Lord or sing hymns of praise to Him. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 670-671)
Further Reading: Life-study of Exodus, msgs. 56-57; Life-study of Leviticus, msg. 36
Morning Nourishment
Psa. 119:48 …I will lift up my hand to Your commandments, which I love; and I will muse upon Your statutes.147-148 I anticipated the dawn and cried out; I hoped in Your words. My eyes anticipated the night watches, that I might muse upon Your word.
To lift up our hand unto the word of God is to indicate that we receive it warmly and gladly and that we say Amen to it (Neh. 8:5-6). (Psa. 119:48, footnote 1)
[In Psalm 119:147] we see that the psalmist rose up before dawn, cried out, and hoped in God’s word. Verse 148 goes on to…[indicate that] the psalmist woke up during the night to muse upon God’s word. Musing upon the Word involves more than just meditating on it. We muse upon the Word by talking to God, worshipping Him, enjoying Him, receiving grace from Him, and conversing with ourselves in the Lord’s presence. (Life-study of Exodus, p. 671)
Today’s Reading
To muse upon the Word of God is to enjoy His Word as His breath. It is to contact God in the Word and to have fellowship with Him, to worship Him, and to pray to Him through and with the Word. By musing upon the Word of God in this way, we shall be infused by God, breathe Him into us, and receive spiritual nourishment.The psalmist waited for the Lord’s word, hoped in it, and arose before dawn to cry out to the Lord that he needed His word. Then he mused upon the Word, worshipping the Lord, praying to Him, and receiving His supply. He also spoke to himself and instructed himself with the Word of God. All this is part of musing upon the Word of God. (Life-study of Exodus, pp. 671-672)
Concerning meditating [musing] on the Word,…George Muller…said,…“The first great and primary business to which I ought to attend every day was, to have my soul happy in the Lord. The first thing to be concerned about was not how much I might serve the Lord, how I might glorify the Lord; but how I might get my soul into a happy state, and how my inner man might be nourished.” (CWWN, vol. 48, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (1),” p. 138)
When we touch the Lord’s Word with our spirit and remain in continual fellowship with Him, our spirit should have a feeling of being bathed, as if our whole being were taking a bath in the Bible. This is refreshing, comfortable, and joyful. We should have this kind of feeling when we fellowship with God through reading the Word….When we pass through God’s word, we should be like a person who has taken a bath, a person who has been soaked in water. The more we read, the more we should be refreshed….This freshness…is like the freshness of the morning dew….We may not know what has touched us, what has enlightened us, or what we have learned, but we will be moistened. As we read verse by verse, we become moist, and we will be full of an inward sweetness. In addition, we will sense a supply. The more we read, the more we will be inwardly satisfied, filled, empowered, and strengthened. There will also be light.
This is the way we should read the Bible for thirty minutes in the morning. Although we may not understand anything, we will take a bath in God’s Word and feel warm in our spirit. We will not have the sense of being hot, scorched, or burned, but we will have an indescribably warm feeling and be refreshed, moistened, supplied, and satisfied. This is good Bible reading. This can be compared to eating a rich breakfast. We may not remember exactly what we ate, but we will feel full and energized….This is an indescribable feeling. The more we read the Lord’s Word and fellowship with Him in this way, the more we will know how real and sweet it is to read the Bible. (CWWL, 1959, vol. 3, “Lessons for New Believers,” pp. 323-324)
Further Reading: Life-study of the Psalms, msg. 40; CWWN, vol. 48, “Messages for Building Up New Believers (1),” chs. 9,11; CWWL, 1959, vol. 3, “Lessons for New Believers,” lsn. 24